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Presidential Apprentice

Tag: Press

More divots than pivots

I remember a time in the 70’s when the mega-rock band The Eagles were reaching saturation in the press, on the radio and video music channels. Rather than pour on more, their cunning-larger than real life manager, Irv Azoff decided to hide his prize property for more than eight months. This ingenious idea created a demand for information and music from the band and when they returned, propelled them even further. It also gave them time to prepare more brilliant songs. The limelight sometimes bakes creativity out of an artist.

We have just had a super blast of Trump and I have noticed people on social media saying that they are tired of hearing his name and news focused on him every time they turn on the powerful “fake news” outlets. I’m sure his fans love it, but there will be a point of enough.

Clearly the shock of losing the election has mobilized the majority of non-right wing people in America. Those who didn’t vote for Trump and those Bernie people who may not have voted at all. Yeah, YOU!

Trump is accused of being smart by the over analysis that takes place on the cable news channels. Trump needs a villain in his life, so he has decided to beat up the media. This amateur wanna-be dictator doesn’t realize he’s attacking the 1st Amendment, therefore undermining the Constitution itself. Great way to endear yourself to the Judiciary, Mr. President. Donald Trump is the apprentice now, trying to learn the ropes, while massaging his ego. Why not take some time to understand his political power and his need to lead the WHOLE country? Too busy tweeting?

Quoting Thomas Jefferson as a justification for his rants on the press was, as he would say at the end of a tweet, Sad! Trump loyalists keep saying, ‘Hey, give him a chance” or “why is everyone in such a panic?” First of all, we are giving him a chance, we have no choice. Next, people who are undocumented are alarmed and anxiety ridden. Like when the news showed what was really happening in Vietnam, we woke up. As the “dishonest” news shows America crying children watching their parents taken away in plastic handcuffs, maybe that place called compassion will stir.

If only your core fans buy your next album, your fan base doesn’t grow. If the Pew Study is correct and Donnie “boy-president” has only has 39% of us approving of what he does, then he has a lot of work to do to impress the boss. He really may not realize it, but he is NOT the boss, we are! He says it, but does he really believe it? No one seems to know what he believes. Clarity has never been his strong suit.

He talks more about himself than the country and its people. He has to impress us, not just dominate TV. He hasn’t pivoted to president at all. The long-sweaty speech in Melbourne, Florida served up more cold mash potatoes with stale gravy. Don’t talk about what you are going to do, just do it.

“I’m really not a bad person”

In an overblown 77-minute press conference, the president of the United States took the mic away from Spicer and decided to command communication himself. His opening lecture to the press belabored his quest to discredit the media.

His attempts to alienate journalists smacks of the implication of the opposite. Donald J. Trump loves the press and lives for their attention. When he says “the tone is such hatred” in the reporting on his administration, he takes on a martyr complex that is so unattractive in any human.

His statement, “I’m really not a bad person” was as shallow as Richard Nixon’s “I am not a crook.” If you have to tell people you aren’t something, you open the door for the listener to think that you are saying the opposite. “The roll out was perfect, there was zero chaos” and “the administration is running like a fine-tuned machine” are simply not true. The rollout of the travel ban was vague and disruptive and found to be poorly written at best. I’m not sure the hail of executive orders is something to brag about, especially when they aren’t comprehended by the commander-in-chief.

The on-going reverse engineering that is taking place is atrocious. When Trump was confronted on the misinformation about his electoral vote number by NBC’s Peter Alexander, the president’s defense was “I was given that information” and then, “Actually, I’ve seen that information around.” While claiming that everybody else is fake news, the lie bubbles coming out of his little round pie-hole exposes his lack of trustworthiness with facts and figures.

Why would any country want to deal with someone who doesn’t prepare enough for a press conference to get the facts right? Any Congressional leader who isn’t asking how do we contain this paranoid-pathological liar posing as president has probably sipped enough of the Kool-Aid of power to longer be thought of as a viable leader either. We are talking to you Paul Ryan.

The reality TV show – referred to as the press conference – had some simple rules. Ask a tough question, you’re out. Ask a question that provides a way for the host to brag about himself, you get praise. Ask a controversial question, and you will be put down with lines like, “Quiet, quiet, quiet,” and then, “See he lied about — he was going to get up and ask a very straight, simple question. Okay, sit down.”

Once again, Trump treated a Jewish reporter with disrespect going on a self-absorbed talk about himself, rather than answering the question. To the credit of other reporters, they didn’t let the president off the hook by returning to the question and pointing out it wasn’t about him. This was the worst press conference ever.

One of the ways a president can be impeached is if the office holder commits a misdemeanor. If someone continually lies to the American public, to Congress or to the Judiciary, isn’t that a misdemeanor? Let’s keep counting the lies for the writing of the Articles of Impeachment. If only embarrassing America was a misdemeanor.